Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy share memories of ‘Archies’ comics: ‘All comics have gravy stains on them’

Mumbai: Music composers Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, who are currently gearing up for the release of their streaming musical film ‘The Archies’ have shared their memories of the ‘Archie’ comics.

Ahead of the film’s release, the composers spoke with IANS about the album, their memories of the comic books, and their process of making exceptional music.

Walking down the memory lane, Ehsaan told IANS, “All my ‘Archie’ comics have food stains on them because I used to eat keema with roti, dropping the gravy on the pages of the comic book.”

Shankar chimed in, as he said, “I remember the pages of the comic book were stuck together too strongly, separating the pages was difficult, a lot of time they would get torn.”

Ehsaan said, “Every time I went by Deccan Queen to Lonavala, I would always buy ‘Archies’ comics from the railway station.”

Talking about the song ‘Va Va Voom’ from the Zoya Akhtar directorial, Shankar said that the melody was composed first.

“Ehsaan played it on the guitar, so the guitar line of the song, he came up with it, and then we put it in the cold storage. Suddenly, when this situation came out we remembered that Ehsaan had randomly come up with the guitar line. Then one thing led to another and the song took the shape.”

The three then discussed their process of working with Zoya, who is their frequent collaborator, and the veteran lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, who has penned the lyrics for the album.

Shankar told IANS “I remember once Shabana Azmi came to our music discussion and she saw us jamming over the song, the tunes and the lyrics, she told us that, ‘if any producer sees you guys working like this they would not sign you because you don’t seem to be working at all, it’s just fun and games’.”

He further mentioned, “Then it hit us that it’s a process for us when we are working with Zoya and Javed sahab that it doesn’t feel like we are working, we are more at ease, the comfort level is so high and comfort is where good art comes from. We laugh, crack jokes, kuch idhar udhar ki baatein, and before we realise, the song is made.”

Loy, who is a man of a few words, spoke about how a melody is born in their lab.

He said, “We think from the genre perspective first, like in this film, it’s time stamped already, we know the world which it is set in, the characters and their background, and the era. So you have a reference that which zone the music needs to be in.”

‘The Archies’ drops on Netflix on December 7.

–IANS